Search Privacy Violations, Breaches and Complaints
This database was last updated in December 2015 ago and should only be used as a historical snapshot. More recent data on breaches affecting 500 or more people is available at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Breach Portal.
ALVARADO HOSPITAL MEDICAL CENTER
Cited by the California Department of Public Health for a violation of California’s Health and Safety Code relating to medical privacy during an inspection that began on September 12, 2013. Also cited in 14 other reports.
Report ID: R1O911, California Department of Public Health
Reported Entity: ALVARADO HOSPITAL MEDICAL CENTER
Issue:
Based on interview, document and record review the hospital failed to ensure that one patient's (Patient B) personal and protected health information (PHI) was kept confidential and not disclosed to another patient's (Patient A) mother without Patient B's prior authorization.Findings:An onsite investigation of an entity reported privacy breach was conducted on 9/12/13 at 2:55 P.M. At that time, an interview was conducted with the hospital ' s Privacy Officer (PO). The PO stated that, on 8/25/13, Patient A was treated in the hospital's Emergency Department (ED). The next day, 8/26/13, Patient A's mother called the ED Charge Nurse and informed her that, upon discharge from the ED, she received Patient A's discharge paper work and three Face Sheets belonging to Patient B.A review of Patient B's Face Sheet indicated that it contained the following personal and protected health information:1. Patient's Name2. Account Number3. Medical Record Number4. Date of Service5. Primary Care Physician's Name and Phone Number6. Admitting Physician's Name7. Reason for ED Visit8. Social Security Number9. Date of Birth10. Age11. Sex12. Marital Status13. Address14. Home Phone Number15. Cell Phone Number16. Wife's Name17. Insurance Information and Policy Number18. Name of employer19. Address of employer20. Patient's OccupationOn 9/12/13 at 3:05 P.M., an interview was conducted with the ED Charge Nurse (CN). The CN explained that on 8/26/13, Patient A's mother called her and stated that she received what was described as Face Sheets belonging to Patient B. Upon further investigation, it was determined that Patient A's ED Primary care nurse handed patient B's Face Sheets to Patient A's mother at the time of Patient A's discharge. The CN stated that the ED's policy, at the time of the incident, was to verify two patient identifiers prior to giving discharge paper work to a patient or their guardian. However, at the time of the incident, there was no ED policy related to the discharge RN verifying the name of the patient on each page of the discharge paper work. The ED discharge RN did conduct the two patient identifier verification prior to handing Patient A's mother the discharge paper work but she never checked each page of the discharge paper work to verify that each page belonged to Patient A.
Outcome:
Deficiency cited by the California Department of Public Health: Patients' Rights